Cotruteeeeit-coibt detector



G. B. SMITH.

Coin Tester. No. 9,997.` Patented Sept. 6, 1853.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GIDEON B. SMITH, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

COUNTERFEIT-COIN DETECTOR.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 9,997, dated September 6, 1853.

To ol whom t may concern Be it known that I, GIDnoN B. SMITH, o-f the city of Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, have invented a new and useful Apparatus for Proving Genuine Gold Coin and Detecting Spurious Coin and for Such other Purposes as It may be Adapted; and I do hereby declare that the same is described and represented in the following specification and drawings.

The nature of my invention consists in a gage or hole just large enough to permit the genuine coin to pass through arranged in combination with a lever acting below said gage, balanced so that the weight of such coin will depress it so as to let said coin slip down through said gage which is too small to allow any spurious coin to pass which is larger than the genuine; t-he lever being so balanced that any coin lighter than the genuine will not be heavy enough to depress it so that all spurious coin whether too large or too light will stop in the gage, while the genuine will slip through and fall out below.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention I will proceed to describe its construction and operation referring to the drawings above mentioned in which the same letters indicate like parts in each of the figures.

Figure 1, is a plan, and Fig. 2, an elevation.

A is the base in which the two posts B B are fastened which support the gage plate C fastened to the top of said posts and provided with five slots adapted to five American gold coins as follows: D to two and a half dolls., E to five dolls., F to twenty dolls., G to ten dollars, and H to one dollar pieces.

These slots are just large enough to permit the genuine coins of the respective demoninations slip through freely onto the levers D', E, F G and H arranged to vibrate under each of the slots or gages respectively,' as they are depressed by the coins put into the gages: and the rear ends of each of these levers which project out behind the plate C are made so lheavy that anything lighter than the genuine coin which may be put into the gages will not be heavy enough to depress the ends under the gages; consequently all spurious coins which are larger than the genuine will be detected by the gages, and all such coins as are lighter than the genuine will be detected by the levers, if they are small enough to slip through the gages; while the genuine coin will slip freely through the gages and depress the levers so as to fall off and allow the levers to return to their places. These levers all vibrate on the rod I which passes through them and through a series of projections I J, &c., on the under side of the gage plate provided for that purpose. The rod I, projections J J, ends of levers which are under the gage plate and the posit-ion of the posts B B are all represented by dotted lines in Fig. l.

In Fig. a one dollar gold coin is represented as being put into the slot H through which it passes to the position represented by the circle K depressing the lever H to the position represented by the dotted lines, when the gage no longer supports the coin and it falls off of the lever, so that it resumes its place against the gage plate, ready to receive another coin.

I contemplate that a gage plate with one or more levers may be fixed in the top of a counter over a drawer or other receptacle for money; also that an inclined plane may be arranged below the levers on which the money may slide after it falls oft of the levers to its desired destination, also that one or more gages with a lever or levers may be arranged in porte-monnaie or articles for carrying money in the pocket.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- A gage or hole ust large enough to permit the genuine coin to pass through; arranged in combination with a lever acting below said gage, balanced so that the weight of such coin will depress it so as to let said coin slip down through said gage which is too small to allo-w any spurious coin to pass which is larger than the genuine; the lever being so balanced that any coin lighter than the genuine will not be heavy enough to depress it; so that all spurious coin whether too large or too light will stop in the gage, while the genuine will slip through and fall out below substantially as described.l

GIDEON B. SMITH.

Witnesses:

B. T. F. DULANY, EDWD. G. STARR. 

